How to Find and Keep the Motivation to Change

We all desire to improve and see positive changes in our lives, but for most of us, our daily habits have become so ingrained that we’ve gotten accustomed to staying inside our comfort zones. We rarely challenge ourselves, and it limits us in reaching our full potential.

Oftentimes, when we do desire to change, we find it hard to see it through. Whether it's going to the gym to get in shape or doing meditation to refine our mental state, we tend to find excuses to not commit to our goals. The reason is that we lack the motivation to change.

Here's some advice to help you light that fire inside you and keep it burning, to bring the power of positive change into your life.

How to Find and Keep the Motivation to Change

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

-- George Bernard Shaw

Find someone to look up to

It becomes easier to change yourself and develop good habits when you have someone to look up to. Be it your father, an uncle, or even someone you don’t know, their success story is a good source of motivation to try and convince you to change. I used to be a really thin dude and I didn’t care much about my fitness almost my entire life, until I started following this certain guy who inspired me to transform myself.

From there, I made the really firm decision to change myself physically, and all because of that person. Now I’m lifting weights and have gained a few pounds to the point of being the heaviest I’ve been my entire life. Looking up to someone allows you to push yourself outside your boundaries so that you too can achieve the results they have.

Cultivate patience and dedication

Imagine that you've achieved the really great body you’ve always dreamed of, or that you finally stopped smoking that last cigarette. I bet it feels pretty good, right? Now, what if it were to actually happen? You would feel ten times better. The thing is, change doesn’t happen in an instant. There are growing pains throughout the entire process, and you need patience, discipline, and an unbreakable determination to keep progressing.

READ: The Psychology of Habits: How to Become a Master of Change

It took a while before I got results when I first started lifting weights, but once I began to see the change in the mirror, it motivated me to do even more. I’m certainly a far cry from the physique I want -- but that’s a good thing, because I’m even more determined to chase it now that I’m finally seeing the results.

You’ll feel the same way too once you start noticing that you’re not running out of breath as easily as before you stopped smoking. It’s about the willingness and perseverance to change despite the inevitable setbacks and shortcomings along the way.

Do it for yourself

Lastly, if you really want to change for the better and improve your overall quality of life, do it for yourself. It’s not about being selfish, it’s about taking care of your own personal well-being. You have to want this badly for yourself more than anything else. You’re not doing this to please other people or make them proud of you, you’re doing this because you’ve decided to actually improve and make a positive change in your life.

It takes a lot of effort to see the results. You just have to be patient, dedicated, and willing to do whatever it takes to get over that hump and finally be a better version of you.